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Contemplative reading is a spiritual practice developed by Christian monks in sixth- and seventh-century Mesopotamia. The Library of Paradise tells the story of this Syriac tradition in three phases: its establishment as an ascetic practice, the articulation of its theology, and its maturation and spread.
The Maronite Library of Aleppo houses one of the most important collections of manuscripts in the Syrian Arab Republic. Comprising more than 1600 copies, the collection contains many different works on Bible, theology, philosophy, history, grammar, literature and sciences, and a great variety of other subjects. The contents of the Library have long been known to Western researchers, but were never fully catalogued. This work seeks to remedy that situation, as the last in a series of three inventories. The first volume (2008) presented a detailed record and description of the Syriac manuscripts held in the Library, and the second one (2011) did the same for those in Karshuni. Following the model established by those two previous publications, this book presents the Arabic manuscripts of the collection. The author offers a short, concise description of each copy, including title or titles, names of the author and copyist, place and date of the copy, and any formal features useful in the proper identification of the manuscripts. This edition also includes 50 images, and full indices of titles, personal names and places.
This book charts the shifting boundaries of Judaism from antiquity to the modern period in order to bring clarity to what scholars mean when they claim that ancient texts or groups are “within Judaism,” as well as exploring how rabbinic Jews, Christians, and Muslims have negotiated and renegotiated what Judaism is and is not in order to form their own identities. Belief in Jesus as the Messiah was seen as part of first-century Judaism, but by the fourth or fifth century, the boundaries had shifted and adherence to Jesus came to be seen as outside of Judaism. Resituating New Testament texts within first- or second-century Judaism is an historical exercise that may broaden our view of what Judaism looked like in the early centuries CE, but normatively these texts remain within Christianity because of their reception history. The historical “within Judaism” perspective, however, has the potential to challenge and reshape the theology of contemporary Christianity while at the same time the long-held consensus that belief in Jesus cannot belong within Judaism is again challenged by the modern Messianic Jewish movement.
Religious Identities in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages contains eight thought-provoking articles that discuss the formation of antique and early medieval religious identities and ideas in rabbinic Judaism, early Christianity, Islam, and Greco-Roman culture. The articles question the artificial disciplinary and conceptual boundaries between traditions. Instead, they stress their shared nature. The collection is a result of discussions at the international symposium “Ideas and Identities in Late Antiquity: Jews, Christians, and Muslims” at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies on March 12–13, 2018.
Laura Robson examines the interactions between international and regional political economies of oil and water, and the increasingly explicit colonial and postcolonial politics of ethno-national identity centered around the question of Palestine, arguing that the Middle East's emergence as a 'zone of violence' only developed over the past century.
This title is published in Open Access with the support of the University of Helsinki Library. The book surveys and analyzes changes in religious groups and identities in late antique Arabia, ca. 300-700 CE. It engages with contemporary and material evidence: for example, inscriptions, archaeological remains, Arabic poetry, the Qurʾān, and the so-called Constitution of Medina. Also, it suggests ways to deal with the later Arabic historiographical and other literary texts. The issue of social identities and their processes are central to the study. For instance, how did Arabian ethnic and religious identities intersect on the eve of Islam? The book suggests that the changes in social groups were more piecemeal than previously thought.
This book throws fresh light on a forgotten war that raged in the 1940s in the mountains of Spain. It is a story of heartbreak and heroism, relating the dramatic events in a village trapped between the ruthless Civil Guard and guerrillas led by a legendary chieftain named Roberto. Guerrilleros, villagers, Civil Guards give a poignant account of bloodshed, betrayal and courage. Historian Paul Preston comments: "As exciting as any thriller, yet deeply moving, it deserves to be read by everyone concerned with the history of contemporary Spain."